And we're back
Aug. 30th, 2010 06:07 pmI finished/handed in my thesis a couple of weeks ago and since then I have been decompressing. This has involved sleeping in late, taking the time to cook elaborate meals, reading books with no other purpose than enjoyment, re-establishing contact with friends and family, and watching a lot of TV that I missed out on.
Here are my thoughts on various shows.
( 10 Things I Hate About You )
( Chuck )
( Community )
( Dance Academy )
( Doctor Who )
( The Good Wife )
( How I Met Your Mother )
( Modern Family )
( The Office )
( Parks and Recreation )
( The Vampire Diaries )
So El-Jay, what's up?
Here are my thoughts on various shows.
( 10 Things I Hate About You )
( Chuck )
( Community )
( Dance Academy )
( Doctor Who )
( The Good Wife )
( How I Met Your Mother )
( Modern Family )
( The Office )
( Parks and Recreation )
( The Vampire Diaries )
So El-Jay, what's up?
I am so glad I came tonight!
May. 18th, 2010 05:57 pm10 Things I Hate About You continues to approach TV show conventions and subvert them because it is awesome like that.
( More spoilery thoughts )
( More spoilery thoughts )
10 Things has been canceled. Because of course it has. It was good and funny and amazeballs and they used the word 'amazeballs' in conversation. I'm sad but not surprised.
( Spoilery thoughts on latest episodes )
( Spoilery thoughts on latest episodes )
10 Things I Hate About You is magical! How does it exist in this world? I think they've truly redeemed Cameron. Who would have even thought it possible?
Also: hooray for a show where the teenagers act like teenagers. The boys are such doofuses in the way that boys actually are (in this latest episode I am thinking particularly of Patrick, the giver of inappropriate nicknames).
Why aren't more people watching this show? It brings only joy.
Also: hooray for a show where the teenagers act like teenagers. The boys are such doofuses in the way that boys actually are (in this latest episode I am thinking particularly of Patrick, the giver of inappropriate nicknames).
Why aren't more people watching this show? It brings only joy.
Fic: To savour schadenfreude is devilish
Sep. 11th, 2009 12:27 amI wrote 10 Things I Hate About You fic. *head desk*
In my defense it was 2:30 in the morning and I had the flu. I edited it with a glass of wine in hand.
Title: To savour schadenfreude is devilish
Characters: Kat, Patrick
Word count: 1,014
Rating: PG
Summary: Five things Kat never said at the party. Patrick spends the day pulling Kat's leg (no, not the super fun way). Could be considered missing scenes from 1.10.
Spoilers: Set during the season finale.
( To savour schadenfreude is devilish )
In my defense it was 2:30 in the morning and I had the flu. I edited it with a glass of wine in hand.
Title: To savour schadenfreude is devilish
Characters: Kat, Patrick
Word count: 1,014
Rating: PG
Summary: Five things Kat never said at the party. Patrick spends the day pulling Kat's leg (no, not the super fun way). Could be considered missing scenes from 1.10.
Spoilers: Set during the season finale.
( To savour schadenfreude is devilish )
10 things I love about you
Sep. 9th, 2009 01:51 pmI'm going to start preemptively hating every new show that comes on TV in the hope that I will end up loving them as much as I love 10 Things I Hate About You because this is me, admitting I was wrong, and being glad that I was wrong.
No, it's not perfect but it gets damn close. They've addressed problems I had early on like the creepiness that is Cameron and Michael and Bianca being too shallow and while we still haven't had episode that solely consists of Patrick delivering a 20 minute monlogue, I concede that was a foolish pipedream and will just have to hope that Ethan Peck does Shakespeare at some point.
I think that the show would benefit sometimes from an extra 5 or 10 minutes as at the moment they always leave us wanting more Kat and Patrick. I did find Bianca's plots a bit boring or irritating at times but as of episode 8 I think she's adorable. ( slight spoiler ) Really, it's just the perfect summer show: light-hearted, snappy dialogue, decent acting (great acting from Lindsey Shaw).
( More spoilery thoughts including the season finale )
I'm gonna go watch the finale again and make myself some icons and maybe a picspam. Watch this show you guys! And then pray for a season 2 with me.
No, it's not perfect but it gets damn close. They've addressed problems I had early on like the creepiness that is Cameron and Michael and Bianca being too shallow and while we still haven't had episode that solely consists of Patrick delivering a 20 minute monlogue, I concede that was a foolish pipedream and will just have to hope that Ethan Peck does Shakespeare at some point.
I think that the show would benefit sometimes from an extra 5 or 10 minutes as at the moment they always leave us wanting more Kat and Patrick. I did find Bianca's plots a bit boring or irritating at times but as of episode 8 I think she's adorable. ( slight spoiler ) Really, it's just the perfect summer show: light-hearted, snappy dialogue, decent acting (great acting from Lindsey Shaw).
( More spoilery thoughts including the season finale )
I'm gonna go watch the finale again and make myself some icons and maybe a picspam. Watch this show you guys! And then pray for a season 2 with me.
Life and Summer TV
Aug. 19th, 2009 11:13 pmI've been busy trying to balance work and university lately. Right now I'm tutoring a bunch of high school kids in various subjects, including helping one girl in a period of history that I myself have never formally studied. So I have to spend time teaching myself so that I can then teach her. It's nuts.
And it's not like I don't already have more than enough material to study for my honours as it is. I'm so busy researching the short essays that I haven't really touched my thesis for the last four weeks. But I'm starting to get a good handle on it so hopefully I'll be able to work on it soon. As long as I stick to my schedule I should be ok.
Having said that, I had intended to start an essay or at least plan it out today and I didn't get round to it. But I did a whole bunch of stuff around the house so that's ok-ish. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow...
(Not a reference that really works in this context but it is late. I apologise.)
I still find time to watch TV and you know what I quite like? 10 Things I Hate About You. It's proved to be charming and quite clever at times. And I really like Kat. She decides to do things based on how feminist it will be and how it will impact on the environment. She's probably the most feminist character on TV right now. I find Bianca kind of irritating, think Cameron and Michael are just creepy, and Patrick just needs to talk more, but Kat's pretty awesome and I wish more female characters were depicted as actually being feminist and caring about these issues.
On the weekend I talked my mother out of seeing The Ugly Truth because I was kind of disgusted just by the trailer. I'm really sick of Hollywood portraying successful business women as cold abrasive shrews (last month there was another such character in The Proposal too) incapable of forming romantic relationships without a man to teach them how. A well done mentor/lover or opposites attract story can be very entertaining but when you rely on lazy characterisation, no matter how charming the actors, you are still perpetuating a stereotype. And not only is that bad for women, but it's damn boring too.
You can say that I'm taking something that's meant to be light entertainment too seriously. I do do that sometimes. But this issue gets my hackles up.
Sometimes I think I should have done Media Studies.
And it's not like I don't already have more than enough material to study for my honours as it is. I'm so busy researching the short essays that I haven't really touched my thesis for the last four weeks. But I'm starting to get a good handle on it so hopefully I'll be able to work on it soon. As long as I stick to my schedule I should be ok.
Having said that, I had intended to start an essay or at least plan it out today and I didn't get round to it. But I did a whole bunch of stuff around the house so that's ok-ish. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow...
(Not a reference that really works in this context but it is late. I apologise.)
I still find time to watch TV and you know what I quite like? 10 Things I Hate About You. It's proved to be charming and quite clever at times. And I really like Kat. She decides to do things based on how feminist it will be and how it will impact on the environment. She's probably the most feminist character on TV right now. I find Bianca kind of irritating, think Cameron and Michael are just creepy, and Patrick just needs to talk more, but Kat's pretty awesome and I wish more female characters were depicted as actually being feminist and caring about these issues.
On the weekend I talked my mother out of seeing The Ugly Truth because I was kind of disgusted just by the trailer. I'm really sick of Hollywood portraying successful business women as cold abrasive shrews (last month there was another such character in The Proposal too) incapable of forming romantic relationships without a man to teach them how. A well done mentor/lover or opposites attract story can be very entertaining but when you rely on lazy characterisation, no matter how charming the actors, you are still perpetuating a stereotype. And not only is that bad for women, but it's damn boring too.
You can say that I'm taking something that's meant to be light entertainment too seriously. I do do that sometimes. But this issue gets my hackles up.
Sometimes I think I should have done Media Studies.
1 thing I like about you
Jul. 9th, 2009 01:42 amSo remember when I got very, very angry about the new TV series based on 10 Things I Hate About You? Well tonight I decided to give it a go, partly because I was pretty curious to compare and contrast, but mostly because there is so very little on at the moment and I'll watch pretty much anything.
Verdict? It's not awful, and sometimes it's even pretty good (note: my bias is totally clouding my judgment. I love the film with a passion). Don't care much for the characterisation at this point but the writing is generally sharper than you'd expect for one of these ABC Family series and there are some funny lines.
But I'm going to keep watching mostly because of the guy who plays Patrick.
Now, I wasn't wrong about him looking like a lost Jonas brother. He does and it kinda freaks me out. But here's the thing: unlike the Jonases, whom I could take in a fight, this guy is solidly built and not a waify elf-child. And he's decently tall too.
He's a bit too pretty here...

...but yes I would like tickets to the gun show.
For the first 2/3 of the show he mostly sits and broods and looks mysterious and vaguely dangerous and rides a motorcycle because that's what bad boys do (actually, real bad boys steal from you so that they can go and buy heroin after they've cheated on you with some other girl). But then, they finally let him talk and whoah. Dude has an unexpectedly deep and sexy voice - I really did not expect him to sound like that but it's good.
( A few more pics under the cut )
So yeah, I'm gonna keep watching because mostly because I'm shallow...and partly because I'm hoping that the White Rastas, Urban Cowboys, and Bogey Lowenstein will eventually show up.
Verdict? It's not awful, and sometimes it's even pretty good (note: my bias is totally clouding my judgment. I love the film with a passion). Don't care much for the characterisation at this point but the writing is generally sharper than you'd expect for one of these ABC Family series and there are some funny lines.
But I'm going to keep watching mostly because of the guy who plays Patrick.
Now, I wasn't wrong about him looking like a lost Jonas brother. He does and it kinda freaks me out. But here's the thing: unlike the Jonases, whom I could take in a fight, this guy is solidly built and not a waify elf-child. And he's decently tall too.

He's a bit too pretty here...

...but yes I would like tickets to the gun show.
For the first 2/3 of the show he mostly sits and broods and looks mysterious and vaguely dangerous and rides a motorcycle because that's what bad boys do (actually, real bad boys steal from you so that they can go and buy heroin after they've cheated on you with some other girl). But then, they finally let him talk and whoah. Dude has an unexpectedly deep and sexy voice - I really did not expect him to sound like that but it's good.
( A few more pics under the cut )
So yeah, I'm gonna keep watching because mostly because I'm shallow...and partly because I'm hoping that the White Rastas, Urban Cowboys, and Bogey Lowenstein will eventually show up.
Turns out it was too good to be true
Apr. 17th, 2009 07:50 pmAttention everyone: the Apocalypse snuck up on us over Easter.
The end is nigh. Be on the look out for four horsemen. I am outraged. I am sad. I am confused.
Why would somebody do this?

WHY????
Why would you remake the awesome 10 things I hate about you into a crappy TV show ten years after it was released? I do not understand.
The girl who plays Kat does not look capable of kicking a guy in the balls and then saying that he kicked himself in the balls. The boy who plays Patrick looks like a Jonas brother. And Bianca? How dare you replace Alex Mack! SHE HAS A SECRET WORLD! (Is that show on DVD yet?) Bogey Lowenstein isn't even mentioned in the new cast list - will Nigel still bring the brie?!
Why yes I have seen this movie 9 million times. How did you guess?
How can they top this moment:
The real rub of it all? The TV show is being directed by the same guy who directed the movie. Kat's father is being played by the same actor too.
Still, it's going to be wretched. For those of you who want to rewatch the film it's here on YT. For me, this will always be Heath Ledger's best work.
The end is nigh. Be on the look out for four horsemen. I am outraged. I am sad. I am confused.
Why would somebody do this?

WHY????
Why would you remake the awesome 10 things I hate about you into a crappy TV show ten years after it was released? I do not understand.
The girl who plays Kat does not look capable of kicking a guy in the balls and then saying that he kicked himself in the balls. The boy who plays Patrick looks like a Jonas brother. And Bianca? How dare you replace Alex Mack! SHE HAS A SECRET WORLD! (Is that show on DVD yet?) Bogey Lowenstein isn't even mentioned in the new cast list - will Nigel still bring the brie?!
Why yes I have seen this movie 9 million times. How did you guess?
How can they top this moment:
The real rub of it all? The TV show is being directed by the same guy who directed the movie. Kat's father is being played by the same actor too.
Still, it's going to be wretched. For those of you who want to rewatch the film it's here on YT. For me, this will always be Heath Ledger's best work.